codenamed 'sapphire,' componentone was one of the first to the market with their plans of silverlight user controls.  initially they put a bunch out there on their lab site to play with, but now you can sign up for their alpha version.  that's right, get your hands on some silverlight controls from componentone!

now named Studio Enterprise Silverlight Toolset, they are taking alpha sign-ups.  to me, this is definitely a product you want to look early at.  they've got:

• buttons
• containers
• lists
• sliders
• text input
• datagrid
• chart

see what i mean?  definitely worth looking at.

it's official.  at teched barcelona, soma (developer division executive) let the crowd know that microsoft will release visual studio 2008 and the .net framework v3.5 by the end of november!

this is really great news for early adopters and people wanting to get a jump start.  as to 'when can i get it' is a good question.  "RTM" or release-to-manufacturing is the process which software makers seal their bits, close out the version, whatever you want to call it and call the project milestone done.  as to when it gets into developers' hands depends on the distribution channel.  usually enterprise subscribers (msdn subscribers) will get first crack at it because they could download it usually < 2 weeks after the product RTMs.  manufacturing DVDs and product packs take a bit longer, so it isn't going to be in stores anytime in november i'm sure.  it is best to understand your personal licensing situation and contact your license representative, reseller, or other distribution channel to figure out when you can get your hands on it.  msdn is the easiest way...consider getting a subscription -- as an independent developer it was the best investment i could have ever made.

later tonight, daylight savings time in north america will end, one week later than usual.  you can see some more details on the new DST start/end times on http://www.microsoft.com/time (this is a new URL reference for future references to DST/time zone changes/issues beyond 2007).

for a list of microsoft products that might be impacted, see the Product Impact Support page as well as the DST/TZ hot topics page.  make sure your windows mobile devices have the correct information as well or if older, have had the windows mobile patch applied.

for developers, visual studio specific information can be found here:

• visual studio and DST

as always, if you have questions, please let me know in the comments below or view my contact information for various ways to get in touch with me.

well, kinda.  i just found out that if you live anywhere near memphis, tn that you might want to head over to the memphis day of .net.  charles petzold, the master, will be delivering the keynote.  he aims to "explore the continuing love/hate relationship that both users and programmers have with graphics, and how WPF and Silverlight may change that relationship..."

aside from the keynote, petzold has indicated that he'll be hanging out for the rest of the day to chat about WPF 3D, animation, or whatever.  if you are in the area, this sounds like a must-be-at event.  it is free, so you have no excuse not to be there on 10 NOV!

 

36 teams.  1 winner.  join the phizzpop design challenge.  from the site:

"The PhizzPop Design Challenge pits top interactive, Web, and design agencies against one another to push the limits of technology and creativity in a battle royale."

if you want to join in the festivities, go register for a location at the phizzpop design challenge site.  the first of these challenges happened earlier this year in san francisco and looked like a great time.  the teams were presented with a challenge use case and given time to come up with a solution.  various implementations in various technologies emerged (ajax, windows presentation foundation, silverlight, etc.) and a winner was chosen by the design community judges.

design smackdown baby.